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Qatar displays prototype of World Cup stadium

Doha, September 14, 2010

Qatar is showcasing a prototype climate-controlled stadium to a FIFA inspection team, which is on a three-day visit to evaluate the country's chances of hosting the 2022 World Cup.

The team, making their ninth and last visit to bidding countries, will consider the possibility of bringing the finals to the Middle East for the first time.

Bid chairman Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said in an opening address: "We have been honest about our bid, honest about our stadiums, honest about the fact we will have no white elephants.

"We are being realistic about the need to meet FIFA requirements for the World Cup and also the Confederations Cup in 2021.

"We have been honest about our cooling technology system. It is now zero carbon and we have already proved the technology does work and we can cool stadiums and we are now proving we can do it in an environmentally friendly way."

Sheikh Mohammed said the hot weather was a challenge Qatar had to overcome. "We will tackle it head on, our technology works and will be very successful," he added.

Doha already has six state-of-the-art stadiums and more would be built in time for the finals.

The prototype stadium the delegates from FIFA, soccer's governing body, were being shown on Tuesday has a zero carbon footprint and will be the system used at every venue.

Another legacy of a Qatari World Cup would be that most of the stadiums could be dismantled after the tournament and shipped to developing countries to be rebuilt.

Qatar's bid is one of nine for the 2022 finals but in reality their main opposition will come from Australia, Japan, South Korea and United States.

FIFA will announce the venues for 2018 and 2022 in Zurich on December 2. - Reuters